|
|
|
|
|
|
slightly absent smile. "It is never hurtful to discover the truth of an unusual happening." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Night had fallen, but the merrymaking was still going strong in the great hall. Alinor was well pleased with her guests. Their spirits were high and the talk and laughter were loud enough that from time to time the dancers had to shout for silence so that they could hear the musicians. Although her toes tapped to the measures, Alinor had refused all offers to dance. She would, of course, have danced with Ian, but since he was not there she did not think it fitting to give her company to any man merely for the sake of pleasure so soon after Simon's death. Unfortunately this thrust her into the orbit of the older ladies, or those who for some other reason would not dance, the most demanding of whom was the Countess of Salisbury. Whatever small irritation had remained in Alinor regarding Salisbury's tentative assumption of authority disappeared completely. Poor man! No wonder he thought all women were idiots. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"And of course I could not go to France," Ela of Salisbury continued in her high-pitched yet drawling whine. "My health would not permit it. William is so inconsiderate. He knows I have not the strength to attend to the children and the estates, yet he is forever rushing off here and there" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"I am sure he does not do it apurpose," Alinor murmurednot at all sure. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If she had been Salisbury, Alinor thought, she would have left for the outer edge of the worldand stayed there. Either that or strangled the woman. The fact that Salisbury's wife not only bore no bruises but was obviously not afraid of her husband convinced Alinor that Ian was right about him. He was a good man. More than that, he was a saint, Alinor decided, as the countess' voice began again. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"You think he must do whatever the king orders," |
|
|
|
|
|